Lee Vining Peak

Lee Vining Peak rises to 11,690 feet just east of Tioga Pass, about 1.8 miles southeast of Mount Warren, on the edge of Yosemite's high country. There's no maintained trail to the top — this is a cross-country scramble for hikers comfortable with route-finding, not a signed park trail — but the payoff is a wide-open summit view across the Sierra crest and down to Mono Lake.

Route and Difficulty

The standard approach follows the Warren Fork drainage off Highway 120/Tioga Road, heading northeast up open terrain to the peak. It runs roughly 4 miles round trip with about 2,700 feet of elevation gain — a moderate dayhike by Sierra standards, though the lower slopes involve bushwhacking through chaparral on one side of the drainage. A shorter, steeper option climbs the east slope from the old Boy Scout Camp road in Lee Vining Canyon, but that access road needs a high-clearance vehicle.

Before You Go

• No trail markers or maintained tread — bring a topo map or GPS track and solid off-trail navigation experience.
• The peak sits just outside Yosemite National Park's boundary, in Inyo National Forest, near the Tioga Pass entrance.
• Snow can linger on the upper slopes into early summer; the route is most straightforward once the Tioga Road corridor is fully open, typically mid-summer through early fall.